Never Tear Us Apart
by redsandman99
Summary: Sequel to Bird of Prey. Jeff and Randy struggle to keep their family together as their daughter gets sick and Jack sinks into a dangerous depression.
1. Chapter 1

There were some days that Jeff already had a headache before he even got up in the morning. All he wanted to do on those days was snuggle up next to Randy and sleep until he felt better. But he couldn't do that. He woke up to the sound of Randy yelling at the pancakes for daring to burn and their seven year old daughter Maggie screaming at the top of her lungs. "Sid stop it!" she cried out. She burst into Jeff and Randy's room and jumped on to the bed with Jeff. "Daddy, make him stop."

Sid soon followed her in. The ten year old was holding a plastic spider in his hands. "I wasn't doing anything you big baby," he said to Maggie. "I was just showing you my new toy."

"Well stop it," Jeff said. "You know she doesn't like spiders." He sat up and rubbed his forehead. "Did Jack get up?"

Sid shook his head. "Dad told him to get up but he went back to sleep anyway."

Maggie nodded. "Yeah, he doesn't want to go to school anymore. And he doesn't want to play with me either. He's turned into a real butthead." She stopped and giggled as she realized what she had said. "I said butthead."

"That's enough," Jeff warned her. "You two go eat. I'll get Jack out of bed."

The two of them ran off quickly. Jeff got out of bed very slowly. He was worried about Jack. The fourteen year old had been a lot moodier and stand offish lately and nobody really knew why. Randy thought it was just normal teen anger and angst that had Jack's panties up in a bunch but Jeff wasn't so sure. It just felt like all the anger had come completely out of left field. Jack used to be such a happy child.

"Jack come on, get up," Jeff said as he entered his son's room. He pulled all the blankets off the bed and shook Jack's shoulders.

"Ugh, go away!" Jack grumbled. He put his pillow over his head. "I don't want to get up. I don't feel good."

"Sorry buddy, I'm not falling for that one again. You got to get up and get dressed. You can't miss school when you're not really sick."

Jack groaned. "Why not? School's not even that important."

Jeff was starting to lose his patience. "Jack…"

"Fine!" Jack snapped. He got off the bed and threw some clothes on that had been laying on the floor. "There, I'm dressed. Are you happy now?" He didn't stick around for an answer though. He stormed out before Jeff could even open his mouth.

Jeff sighed. Things used to be so much simpler when he was younger. He left the room and on his way downstairs, he could hear Sid yelling up a storm. The kid had serious ADD and ADHD issues that were sometimes barely manageable even with medication.

"Sid get in here and take your pills!" Randy yelled. "Stupid bacon! You're not burning either! Maggie, do NOT let Delilah jump on the table like that. Jack, tell Sid to stop running on the damn furniture!"

Jeff entered the living room just in time to see Jack grab Sid and literally toss him halfway across the room. "Jack Orton-Hardy! What the fuck was that for?"

Jack just shrugged. "He wouldn't stop."

Sid got back up to his feet. "Asshole," he muttered as Jack went into the kitchen. He rubbed the back of his head.

Jeff immediately started looking for any signs of a bump or a bruise. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I was just playing. He didn't need to be so mean about it."

"I know, I'll talk to him. Now come on. You need to eat and take your meds." Jeff led him into the kitchen just in time to see Randy throwing out the food he had ruined.

"Everyone is eating cereal today," Randy announced. "The pancakes and bacon do not like me. Actually, that stove doesn't like me. It's defective or something."

"Your cooking is defective," Jack muttered.

Jeff glared at the teenager. "Your attitude is the thing that's really defective around here. What were you thinking tossing Sid across the room like that?"

Randy looked at Jack. "You did what?"

Jack just threw up his hands in exasperation. "He doesn't listen when you guys yell at him. You said you wanted him off the furniture so I got him off. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that he's ten years old. You can't be tossing him around like a rag doll."

"Rag doll living in a movie. Hot damn, Daddy's little cutie…"

Jeff turned around and glared at Aaron and Jenny, who had let themselves in. "Now is not the time Aaron."

"Oh get your panties out of a bunch Uncle Jeff," Aaron said cheerfully. "Today is a happy day."

"Emma is coming to stay with me, which means he gets to make out with her," Jenny explained. Emma was Cody and Ted's oldest daughter, and she was Jenny's best friend and Aaron's girlfriend.

"You better not let Cody or Ted find out if your doing anything beyond kissing with her," Randy said. "They'll kill for that."

"I know, I know." Aaron looked at Jack. "Dude, you look even more pissed than usual. What's up your ass?" He grinned. "Or should I ask what's NOT up your ass that has you so pissed off?"

Jack stood up. "That's it, I'm going."

"But you didn't even eat!" Randy complained.

Jack didn't say anything back. He just punched Aaron on the arm and stormed out.

"Why would you do that?" Jenny asked her twin angrily. She slapped him upside the head and went chasing after Jack.

Aaron sighed dramatically. "Nobody loves me anymore. I'm so sad."

"Delilah and I love you Cousin Aaron," Maggie said.

"Aw how sweet. Oh! Coco Puffs!"

Jeff rolled his eyes as his nephew started stealing their cereal. "Don't Matt and Katie ever feed you?"

"Yeah but there's five of us kids living there and Gary's a bigger pig than I am."

Randy handed Sid his pills. "Take these now so you don't forget." He looked at Aaron. "Hey, what's been up with Jack lately?"

Aaron shrugged. "Hell if I know. He says he's fine and everyone's making a big deal out of nothing. Jenny thinks he's in love or something. If he is, you're helping him because I only give relationship advice out when it involves a girl and a dude."

Jeff sighed and leaned against the counter. Maybe it was just unrequited teen love that had Jack acting out. Still, Jeff couldn't get the little nagging feeling out of his mind that it was something worse. Or at least, it was going TURN INTO something worse. Either way, he didn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach at all.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jack! Jack wait up!"

Jack stopped so Jenny could catch up with him. "What's up with you?" she asked.

"Nothing," he lied.

"Bullshit. I know you Jack. You're not acting right and everyone can see it. Come on, this is me you're talking to. You can tell me anything."

He looked down. He knew his behavior had been pretty bad lately. He didn't mean for it to be. "Zach's getting out of control," he said quietly.

Her eyes widened. "Oh no, how bad is it? What has he done to you?"

Zach Taylor was probably the most dangerous and volatile person in their high school, which was impressive for a freshman. Nobody really liked him and everybody stayed away from him. Everybody except Jack anyway. He had been curious about what made Zach tick. They had started out as friends and they had started secretly dating about four months ago. At first Jack had been convinced that he was the only one who knew the real Zach and everyone else just saw a protective mask. But within the first week he learned that the real Zach was meaner and nastier than anybody knew.

Jack slowly lifted up his shirt and his tank top to show her the bruises Zach's foot had left two days ago. He couldn't even take off his tank top in his own house because he was afraid someone would walk in and see what had been done to him. "I found him cheating on me and I confronted him about it," he admitted. "He really didn't like that."

Jenny looked appalled. "Oh my God. Tell me you dumped his sorry ass."

He shook his head. "I can't dump him."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid."

"You think he'll hurt you if you try to leave for good."

He shrugged. "Maybe. I'm more afraid of being alone though." He laughed bitterly. "My own boyfriend can't stand the sight of me and the guy I actually do love won't give me the time of day. Sid's got a more stable love life than I do. Hell, he's already planning his wedding."

"First of all, he's ten and his little relationship with Nancy Jenkins does not count," Jenny told him. "Second of all, Zach's a psycho. You have to get out like right now. He's just going to keep hurting you."

Jack knew she was right but he didn't want to admit it. "I think he's about to dump me anyway. He says I whine and bitch too much." He leaned up against a tree and sighed. "God, I am so stupid. Between Zach and not being able to have Doug--"

"Doug?" Jenny repeated. "Phil and Kofi's Doug? The Doug that is not gay?"

"Thank you for reminding me of that. I wasn't miserable enough already."

"Sorry." She shifted around from foot to foot. "Is that all that's bugging you or is there more?"

He just shrugged. "That's all that's actually wrong. Other than that, I'm just depressed."

"Well turn that frown, upside down!" Aaron said as he finally caught up with them. "There shall be no depression while I am around."

Jack rolled his eyes. Aaron was always so damn cheerful for some reason. It had been bothering him ever since the depression had really kicked in. It was a painful reminder of the way he used to be before the black cloud of despair had taken over his life. It had been forming even before the Zach thing started and was just getting progressively worse. He knew he should say something but he didn't want to burden anyone with his problems. Besides, he had thought he could handle it until recently. Lately he had found himself getting so down that it was getting harder and harder to sleep and eat. Hell, it was just getting hard to even pretend he wasn't half as miserable as he really was.

They were about ten minutes late for school because none of them were in a big hurry to get there. Jack's first class was biology. Zach was supposed to be in his class, but he wasn't there. Jack found himself unable to concentrate because he was so unsure about what all of it meant. Were they actually over or was this all just another fight to add to the list? He asked himself that over and over again, and while he was heading to his next class, he got his answer. Zach was with the kid Jack had caught him with in the first place. He didn't know who the kid was and he didn't care. He couldn't stand looking at the sight before him anymore. He turned right around and ran right out of the school. He ran until he was on the town limits, which was where he finally collapsed.

"Oh Jesus," he muttered. The blackness was threatening to swallow him whole again. He tried to take several deep breaths to calm himself down. It used to work a couple months ago but now it just made his chest ache even more. Everything felt wrong. Even with Dave being an asshole and the probability that Doug would never love him shouldn't cause this kind of pain. He had a family and bunch of friends that loved him to death. Why didn't he feel happy _at all_ anymore? What was wrong with him?

He lost track of how long he just laid there. But after awhile, he got up and hid out in the woods. If the school called home and told his parents he was truant for his seven other classes, he was going to be in big trouble. He didn't care though, which made him feel even worse. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even care about much of anything anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Randy grinned as Jeff snuggled up against him. The only thing covering their bodies was the sheet on the bed. "Did that help your headache?" he asked.

Jeff grinned. "Oh yeah. That was quite the remedy you gave me." He kissed Randy softly. "I love it when the kids are at school. It's so quiet and peaceful."

Randy smirked. "Well, it's sometimes quiet. I think we were pretty loud there for a little while."

The phone rang, causing both of them to groan. "I've got it," Jeff said. He reached over to the desk and answered it. With each passing second, his face made Randy uneasy. "What?" Randy asked as Jeff hung up the phone. "What's wrong?"

"Jack's truant," Jeff answered. He got out of bed and put his clothes back on. "He only went to his first class."

Randy cursed and got out of bed. This wasn't like Jack. Something was going on with their oldest son. He got dressed and grabbed his car keys. "Come on. I think I know where he's going to be."

Neither of them said anything as they got in the car and started driving. Randy knew Jeff well enough though to know how worried his husband was. He wished he could tell Jeff that this wasn't anything serious but he knew from previous experience that when things went wrong, they really, really went wrong. It was best to just expect the worse and then it would come as less of a shock when it happened.

Randy drove them to a secluded little area in the woods that was by a pond. Jack was there throwing stones in the water. He didn't look up as they walked over to him. "What's going on buddy?" Randy asked carefully. He wanted to assess the situation before going off and yelling all willy nilly. That would probably just make everything worse.

Jack just shrugged. "Nothing. I just didn't feel like being in school today."

Jeff gently touched the boy's shoulder. "Come on Jack, we know that's not true. Something's been bothering you for awhile now."

"Just leave me alone," Jack grumbled. He tried to walk past them to escape again. Randy put out his hand to stop him and ended up grabbing his son by the stomach. His eyes widened and he recoiled when Jack hissed in pain.

"What?" he asked. "What did I do? I barely touched you!"

Jack sighed. "I'm fine. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Randy was worried though. He watched as Jeff pulled up Jack's shirt and tank top to reveal a patch of bruises that had been hidden up until this point. "Oh God," Randy groaned. He felt sick to his stomach. "Who did that to you?"

Jack looked down. "Zach," he said quietly.

"Who's Zach?" Jeff asked.

"My ex-boyfriend…I think. Maybe he's my ex. I don't know."

Randy and Jeff exchanged looks. They had always had suspicions about Jack's sexuality but there had never been any real discussion about it. But the fact that Jack either was in or had been an abusive relationship instantly opened up a lot of old wounds for them.

Jack didn't seem to have noticed the looks his dads were exchanging. "I caught him cheating on me with some guy I didn't know. I freaked and he got violent. And today I saw him with that same guy and I just couldn't stand it. I don't even know why. I hate him so much sometimes but I mean…" his voice trailed off for a moment. "It still hurt," he finally said.

"Was this the first time he hit you?" Jeff's voice was shaking as he asked.

Jack didn't say anything, which was all the answer they needed.

"Oh fuck," Randy muttered. He smacked his hand against a nearby tree. His day had been effectively ruined now. He remembered Jeff telling him that it took Christian nearly killing him to make him realize he really needed to get out of the relationship. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" he asked. "You know you can come to us for anything, don't you?"

Jack nodded. "I know but…I don't know." He crossed his arms. "Am I in trouble?"

Randy and Jeff shared another look before shaking their heads. "Not this time," Jeff said slowly.

"Okay. Thanks." Jack walked over to the car and got into it.

"There's something else going on with him," Randy said quietly. He knew an abusive relationship could cause a person to withdraw from everyone that loved them, but something in his gut told him that Zach wasn't Jack's only problem. There was something else tormenting his son. "Do you think somebody else hurt Jack?"

Jeff bit his lip. "Maybe. I hope not, but that's definitely an option." He sighed. "Or he's suffering from depression. Sometimes doesn't come from any actual event. It just happens."

Randy sighed as they slowly started walking back towards the car. He knew that but that didn't make him feel any better. In fact, it made him feel worse because it signaled to him that this wasn't going to be an easily fixable situation.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Later that day, Maggie and Sid were outside playing with their cousins Gary and Rachel. Gary was eleven and Rachel was eight. They were Maggie's favorite cousins because they played with her and Sid all the time. Aaron and Jenny were more interested in hanging out with Jack and Caleb was only three, so he was too young to have any real fun with.

"I'm getting married Friday," Sid told Gary.

Gary shook his head. "No you're not."

"Yes I am! Tomorrow's my bachelor party and the next day is the wedding. Nancy and I are getting married after school. I had to make it after school so Dad and Daddy could watch."

"And I get to be the flower girl!" Maggie announced excitedly. It didn't really matter that she didn't really like Nancy all that much. The important thing was that she got to throw flowers around, which was always fun.

"Hey, let's race to the end of the block and back," Rachel said. "On your mark, get set, go!"

The four of them took off running as fast as they could. Maggie was doing a good job of keeping up with the others, but then about halfway down the block, a wave of tiredness hit her and she completely ran out of breath. She stopped and tried to get all her air back. Her tiredness confused her. She had been tired a lot lately, especially when she did anything physical. She knew her daddies got really tired when they a cold or the flu, so that's what she thought she possibly had. But still, it was kind of weird to her. It didn't really feel like she had a cold or a flu.

Sid was already on his way back to the starting place. "Oh come on Maggie quit being--EW! You're bleeding!"

Maggie put her hand up to her nose. It was bleeding for the third time this week. "Daddy!" she yelled. She started running back towards the house. But she was so tired and the tiredness made her legs weak. She fell down on the ground and banged her leg up pretty badly. "DADDY!"

Jeff came tearing out of the house like there was a fire or something. "What happened?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"My nose is bleeding again!" Maggie complained. "And I fell and I have a boo-boo now."

Jeff sighed and picked her up. "This is the third nosebleed this week. I'm about ready to take you to the damn doctor."

Maggie sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. "Okay Daddy," she said, giving him her blessing to take her to the doctor. Normally she cried and fussed any time she had to see the doctor but now she wasn't going to. She didn't feel well. She didn't feel well at all.


	4. Chapter 4

Jeff tried to clear his mind as he taped his ankles up before his match. He had taken Maggie to the doctor the other day and had some tests done on her. The results weren't back yet but they were supposed to be by the end of the week. A bad feeling was forming in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to say it out loud, but he was scared that something was seriously wrong with poor Maggie. She was so tired still and today she not only had trouble picking up her own backpack, but she was completely winded when she climbed up a set of stairs. Currently she was sitting on the floor staring up at the monitor, watching the match that was happening at the moment. She didn't even want to get up and run around with Sid. She was just too tired.

Randy came back into the locker room. "Where did Sid and Jack go?" he asked. "I can't find them anywhere."

"Hunter and Shawn have Sid with them," Jeff told him. "And Jack went off with Aaron, Jenny and Emma. They should be around here somewhere."

Randy sighed. "Okay, first you let Hunter and Shawn corrupt Jack and now you gave them Sid?" He got down on the floor so he could pretend to whisper to Maggie. "I think your Daddy over there has lost all of his marbles."

Maggie giggled.

Jeff glared at him. "They are not going to corrupt Sid. They promised they were going to be on their best behavior. Besides, Sid knows better than to--"

Sid came bursting into the room decked in a DX t-shirt, ripped jeans and a small leather jacket. His hair was spiked up as much as it would go. "I am an Anti-Christ! I am an anarchist! Don't know what I want but I know how to get it! I want to destroy passerby! Because I wanna be, anarchy!" He picked up the nearest chair and tried to fling it across the room. It didn't actually go very far but it made a loud thump as it hit the floor. "Get pissed, destroy!"

Jeff, Randy and Maggie just stared at Sid for several minutes. "Oh yes, Sid really does know better," Randy said sarcastically. "Acting like he's in the Sex Pistols is a really good sign."

Sid grinned. "Hunter and Shawn said it would make sense because my girlfriend's name is Nancy."

Jeff and Randy exchanged looks. Okay, they had not actually known Sid's girlfriend's name was Nancy. That kind of worried them because the other Sid and Nancy hadn't worked out so well. "Okay Sid, I know Shawn and Hunter think it's funny when you run around like a maniac but we would appreciate it if you wouldn't," Jeff said gently. "It kind of scares us, okay?"

"Okay Daddy," Sid said. He plopped down on the floor next to Maggie. "I'm keeping my hair like this though."

"Okay then," Randy agreed. "The spikey hair stays." He kissed both Maggie and Sid before getting up and going over to Jeff. "Are you going to make it through tonight?" he asked.

Jeff just shrugged. "I'm worried about what the doctor is going to say when they get the test results back," he whispered. He didn't want Maggie to hear them talking about her. "It's bad Randy. I just know it."

Randy sighed and pressed his forehead against Jeff's. "It's going to be okay," he said. He was trying to sound reassuring but his voice was cracking. "She's going to be okay."

Kofi poked his head in the room. "Uh Jeff?"

"I'm coming," Jeff said. His voice was shaking. He wanted to believe Randy's words but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Deep in his gut, he knew that Maggie's situation was serious. And when he heard the news, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to handle it. He wasn't sure if any of them were going to be able to handle it.

XXXXXXX

Jack stuffed his hands into his hoodie pocket. He, Aaron, Jenny and Emma had gone to hang out with some of the other kids in the catering area. Aaron and Emma were all over each other while Jenny and Derek Mizian made gagging noises and crude gestures behind their back. Rachel and Gary were trying to play Monkey in the Middle with little Caleb and the poor kid did not seem to be appreciating it. Emma's little sister Dakota was playing with Sasha Morrison and Doug was talking to Aurora Levesque.

To make it look like he wasn't watching Doug, Jack pretended to be playing a game on his cell phone. He seemed to be doing a good job of it because nobody was bothering him. But he almost wished someone would notice that he was about to go nuts. He appeared calm on the outside but on the inside he felt like screaming. He could see the way Aurora and Doug were flirting with each other and it absolutely killed him.

_Stop letting it get to you_, he told himself. _Doug will never love you the way you love him so quit tormenting yourself. You're only making yourself more miserable._

His phone vibrated as he got a text. He checked it and was surprised to see it was from Dave. **Where r u?**

He hesitated for a minute before answering. **Y do u care?**

The next message came only after a couple of minutes. **Im sorry**. That was all it said.

**U cheat on me and u say sorry thru a text? Screw you Dave**. Jack sent that and put his phone in his pocket. Anger made him send that message. He wasn't even sure if he meant that. Yes Dave could be an abusive bastard and a selfish prick, but having Doug right in front of him and knowing that he could never have what he really wanted made him desperate for any kind of love--no matter how self destructive.

Not being able to stand being around anyone anymore, Jack grabbed his can of Mountain Dew and bailed out of the room. He went into the nearest men's bathroom and hid in one of the stalls. He took the tab off the can and rolled up his sleeve. Something had to be done to calm his inner turmoil. He had to make himself feel better. He dragged the sharp end of the tab against his arm as hard as he could, making himself bleed. Instant relief washed over him. He had been getting the urge to do this for quite awhile now. He just hadn't had the guts to try it before tonight. But he already liked it. It gave him a release and let him turn his inner pain into physical pain.

The call of the cutting had claimed another victim.


	5. Chapter 5

Randy woke up the next morning to the sound of the phone ringing. He reached over Jeff's just awakening body and managed to grab a hold of the device. "Hello?" he said groggily.

"Mr. Orton?"

"Yes?"

"This is Dr. Summers speaking."

Randy was suddenly wide awake. This was Maggie's doctor talking. "Oh…uh, hello Dr. Summers. What exactly--"

"Can you bring Maggie up to the hospital as soon as possible? I don't want to alarm you, but I think you'll appreciate the need to take very swift and quick action."

Randy just stared at the wall and blinked several times. None of this was making sense. "Dr. Summers, what are you talking about? What's wrong with Maggie?"

Dr. Summers sighed. "I think you and Mr. Hardy just need to bring her up here as soon as you can. I'll tell you what we found when you get here."

"What is it honey?" Jeff asked as Randy hung up the phone. "What's wrong? Why do you look so upset?"

Randy swallowed hard. "That was Dr. Summers. He wants us to get Maggie and meet him up at the hospital."

Jeff sat up so fast that his head nearly collided with Randy's. "What? Why?"

"He didn't say. He just said he would explain what they found when we got there."

Jeff looked like he had just been shot. "Oh God," he moaned. "I knew it. It's bad Randy. It's really bad. Our baby's really sick."

Randy grabbed Jeff's head and forced the older man to look him in the eyes. "Listen to me Jeff," he said quietly. He was trying to keep his voice steady, but it was cracking and shaking anyway. He knew it had to be bad too. The cryptic conversation with the doctor was proof enough. "We need to get a hold of ourselves. We have to be strong for Maggie, no matter how bad it is. She needs us now more than ever. Okay? Can you keep it together for her and for me? I can't be strong for her on my own. I'm going to need you too."

Jeff nodded slowly. He didn't look like he was hanging on all that well at the moment, but at least he was trying. "Okay," he said in a shaky voice. "I'll try."

"Good." Randy kissed him and then went to Maggie's room. She was sitting on her bed, playing with her wrestling action figures. "Hi Daddy," she said.

"Hi," he said. "Hey listen, the doctor wants to see you again, so Daddy and I are going to take you to him real quick."

She looked up at him with her large brown eyes. "Does he know what's wrong with me now?"

He sighed. "I think he does honey. That's why we have to go find out. You want to get all better, don't you?"

"Yeah. I can't beat Sid at our games if I'm sick." Maggie stood up and got her shoes on. She suddenly stopped and looked up at Randy. "Don't look so worried Dad. I'm going to be okay. You trust Dr. Summers don't you?"

Randy forced himself to make a small smile. "Yeah honey. Of course I trust him." He picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. "Come on honey. Let's go get you better."

Jeff was waiting for them by the front door by the time they got downstairs. "Jack's going to watch Sid," he told them. He looked frazzled and worried. "We'll have to call him and tell him if this is going to take longer than we expect it to."

Randy nodded. He hoped this wouldn't take very long, but he had no idea what to expect or think anymore.

Nobody spoke on the way to the hospital. Randy was sick with worry and he knew Jeff was too. And despite their efforts to hide that, they knew Maggie could tell they were worried. The concern on her own face grew more and more prominent as they got closer and closer to their destination.

Dr. Summers and his nurse was waiting for them when they got to the hospital. "Trisha, would you please take Maggie with you while I talk to Jeff and Randy alone?" he asked.

Trisha smiled and gently took Maggie out of Randy's arms. "Hi honey. Don't you worry about a thing. We're going to take good care of you here, okay?"

"Okay," Maggie said. She looked back and waved at Randy and Jeff. They waved back and soon she was taken into another room.

"What the hell is going on?" Randy asked. He didn't try to hide the pissed off tone in his voice. "What's wrong with our daughter?"

Dr. Summers sighed. "Randy, Jeff, I don't know how to break this to you, so I'm just going to say it. Maggie has leukemia. It's in it's early stages, so the chances of her making a full recovery are very good. Still, this is going to require chemotherapy and radiation treatments, which will be rough on her."

Randy stopped really hearing anything after the word leukemia was spoken. He flashed back to when Mark had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Back then, it had felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on when he had heard that news. This time, it felt like both his heart and his soul had been ripped out and set on fire. Maggie had leukemia. Maggie had cancer. His Maggie…Jeff's Maggie…their Maggie…

"I need to go to the bathroom," Jeff muttered. He pushed past the doctor and took off running. Randy immediately chased after him. He knew that actually going to the bathroom wasn't on Jeff's agenda. He had seen the look on his husband's face. He knew when Jeff had reached a bad news overload. The three little words the doctor had spoken had pushed Jeff over the edge.

Randy burst into the bathroom just in time to see Jeff busting the mirror with fists. "Jeff stop!" he ordered. He grabbed Jeff and pulled him away from the broken glass. "Stop it! Cutting yourself isn't going to fix anything!"

Jeff burst into tears as he fought to get free. "It's Maggie Randy," he said desperately. "It's our baby."

"I know," Randy said. He did understand how Jeff felt. He hugged Jeff tightly and rested his head against the smaller man's neck. "I know she is. But she's going to be okay. She's going to get through this, I promise."

"How do you know? How can you know that?"

"Because I can't bear to think otherwise." Randy turned Jeff around so they could face each other. "We need to be strong right now. Maggie needs us. Okay? Hang on for me baby, please."

Jeff closed his eyes. "Why can't it ever stop? Does God hate us that much?"

Randy didn't answer that question. He couldn't answer it. He just held Jeff tightly, hoping this was all some sort of nightmare and he would wake up and everything would be okay. But he didn't and he knew he wouldn't. This was reality. Like it or not, this was their reality now. Now they had to deal with it.


	6. Chapter 6

Jack felt absolutely numb as he laid in his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Randy had come home a few hours ago and had given him and Sid the bad news. Maggie had leukemia. That had been the last thing in the world that Jack had been expecting to hear. They had gone to see her for a little bit. She had already been admitted to the cancer ward of the hospital. She was supposed to start chemotherapy tomorrow. Jeff and Randy were both at the hospital right now with her. Matt and Katie were taking turns coming over to check on things here at home. Sid needed them more than Jack did. The kid was taking his sister's illness really hard. Not that Jack wasn't of course. He didn't want Maggie to be sick. But he had his own way of dealing with the pain he was feeling at the moment.

He ran his fingertip over the blade of the knife. He had stolen it from the kitchen a couple of hours ago when Matt hadn't been looking. This was the first real chance he had gotten to even risk using it. This was already becoming an addiction for him. It made him feel good and it gave him an escape from his problems. It wasn't like he could really talk to anybody at the moment. The focus needed to be on Maggie and helping her get better. Nobody needed to be worrying about his stupid problems at the moment.

Holding his breath so he could listen really carefully for anyone who could possibly be coming, he made a long cut on the bottom of his arm. He hissed in pain as the blood began to come out. It fucking stung. He made a second cut next to the first one. It also stung really badly, but it felt so damn good. It made him feel so much better. Maybe it didn't solve anything, but it helped clear his head and made him feel like he could breathe.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. "Jack?" Sid called out. "Can I come in?"

_Shit!_ Jack thought to himself. He put the knife under the bed and rolled down his sleeves so his cuts would be covered. "What do you want Sid?"

"I want to come in."

Jack sighed. He knew his little brother wasn't going to go away until he got what he wanted. "Okay. Come on in."

Sid came in slowly. He looked like he had been crying. "Is Maggie going to die?" he asked quietly as he shut the door.

This caught Jack off guard. "What?"

"Is Maggie going to die? People die when they have cancer you know."

"Maggie's not going to die," Jack told him. "Maggie's going to be okay. Dad and Daddy are going to make sure she gets better."

"People die all the time you know." Sid was not going to let this subject go without a fight.

Jack sighed. "Come here Sid."

Sid slowly walked over and got on the bed. "I love Maggie. I don't want her to die Jack."

"I don't either." Jack pulled Sid into his arms and hugged him tightly. "That's why everyone's going to make sure she gets better."

"Is that why you took the knife out of the kitchen earlier?"

Jack froze. Oh shit. Sid had seen him take the knife. That was not good. "What do you mean?"

"Did you take the knife so you could stab the cancer?"

"Uh…yeah, let's say that." Jack rubbed Sid's back gently. Shit, this was bad. If Sid said anything about the knife, then he was screwed. "But let's not tell anyone that. Let's keep that a secret between you and me."

"Why?"

"Because we just need to, okay?"

Sid still looked confused, but he nodded along anyway. "Okay. I won't say anything."

XXXXXXX

Jeff couldn't sleep. His body was telling him he needed, to, but he couldn't bring himself to even try. This was officially the worst day of his life, and considering everything he had been through over his life, that was saying something. He just stared at Maggie, who had finally fallen asleep. She didn't seem to fully grasp the situation that she was in. She just knew that she was sick, but the doctors were going to going to make it better. There was little doubt in Jeff's mind that she really didn't even understand how serious cancer was.

"Honey," Randy said softly. He wrapped his arms around Jeff gently. "You need to try to get some sleep. Maggie needs you at full strength tomorrow."

"I can't do it," Jeff whispered. He rested his head against Randy's cheek. "I'm afraid to take my eyes off of her. I'm afraid she's going to go away if I even try to work."

"Hush now," Randy scolded. He kissed Jeff gently. "Don't talk like that. You're only going to upset yourself even more. Maggie is going to be okay. We'll get her through this, somehow, some way. Okay?"

Jeff nodded slowly. He still had his doubts of course, but those just came naturally to him. After everything he had been through, how couldn't they? But still, he wanted to try to think positively, even if it was just for everyone else's sake. "Okay."


	7. Chapter 7

**msnooky: I think I've even got a little lost on the kids situation, especially after I went back and read about how many I put in at one of the chapters. So for the record, here they are: Jeff and Randy's kids--Jack(14), Sid(10) and Maggie (7). Then there's Matt and Katie's brood--Aaron and Jenny (14), Gary (11), Rachel (8) and Caleb (5). Ted and Cody: Emma (13) and Dakota (9). Phil and Kofi: Doug (15--adopted at an older age). Miz/Lillian: Derek (13) and Maria/Morrison: Sasha (10). I hope that helps a little bit.**

Randy had heard about how hard chemo and radiation treatments were from Mark, but since he had never seen what the Deadman had gone through, he wasn't fully prepared to deal with what poor Maggie had to go through. It became very hard as the week went on to stay optimistic. The treatments made her so sick and weak, and she was already starting to loser her hair. She actually started to cry when she saw the clumps coming out of her head and it almost made him cry too. Matt and Katie tried to be helpful by bringing in all kinds of pretty wigs for her, but the damage had been done. She had been traumatized by that incident.

"Dad?" Maggie said weakly. They had gone ahead and had her head shaved, so now she really looked like a shadow of her former self.

"Yeah honey?" he said, taking and holding her hand gently.

"When are Jack and Sid coming to see me?"

"They'll be here in a little bit. Matt and Katie are bringing them and all your cousins to see you."

"Do they know why I'm sick?"

"Nobody knows why you're sick. We're just here to make sure you get better."

"Oh." She looked over at Jeff, who hadn't said a word in hours. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?" Jeff said in a shaky voice. It didn't seem like he was going to hold together for that much longer.

"Don't be sad. I don't like it when you're sad."

Jeff almost managed a small smile. "I know you don't honey. I just wish you weren't sick."

"Me too. Chemo is terrible." She made a face. "It makes me look like a weird, shrunken old man."

Randy frowned. "What?"

Matt and Katie arrived with Jack, Sid and their whole brood. "Surprise," Aaron said, holding a teddy bear out to Maggie.

"Ooohhh! Gimmie!" Maggie said eagerly. She weakly held her arms out so she could get the stuffed animal.

Jack came to sit by Randy and Sid sat down on Jeff's lap. Randy couldn't help but notice how pale and thin Jack was becoming. "Have you been eating buddy?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "I haven't been hungry."

"Sid hasn't been hungry either," Gary informed them. "He even put off marrying Nancy until Maggie's better."

Maggie grinned. "You did?"

Sid nodded. "I can't have a wedding without a flower girl. It wouldn't be the same."

Jeff kissed the top of Sid's head. "That was very sweet of you."

Matt reached into the bag he had brought and pulled out some board games. "Maggie, you pick which one you want to play first. We'll do whichever one you want first."

"Say Pretty Pretty Princess, say Pretty Pretty Princess," Aaron whispered.

Jenny gave him a look. "Why do you want her to say that one?"

"Oh come on, we all know how awesome I look as a princess."

Jack rolled his eyes and started reaching towards the games Matt was holding so they would be closer to Maggie. By chance, his sleeve rolled up just enough for Randy to see the cuts on his arm. "Jack, what are those?" he asked quickly.

Jack froze. He looked at Randy and then at his arm before gulping. "What's what?"

Randy took his son's arm and rolled up the sleeve even more. There were cuts everywhere on his arm. And not only were there cuts, but there were burn marks too. It looked like he had taken a lighter and just held the flame up to his skin until it burned. "Oh my God. Jack, what have you done to yourself?"

Jack closed his eyes. "It's nothing, okay? I'm fine."

"It's nothing? Jack, look at your arm! This is not nothing!"

"Randy stop for a second," Jeff said quietly. He took Sid off his lap and stood up. "Jack, can you come out and talk to me for a second?"

Jack pulled his arm away from Randy and reluctantly went out of the room to talk to Jeff. Randy just sat there for a moment, not believing what he had just seen. He looked at Matt and Katie. They couldn't believe it either.

Caleb just grabbed the Pretty Pretty Princess game and held it up to Aaron. "Pretty. You pretty."

Aaron grinned triumphantly. "See? Caleb agrees with me."

XXXXXXXXX

Jeff took Jack all the way out into the car so they could talk completely alone. "Daddy this isn't what you think it is," Jack said. Now that he had been busted, he was trying to talk his way out of it. "I haven't done anything to--"

"Just stop," Jeff ordered. He was rolling up his own sleeves. "I know what you've been doing. You can't fool someone who's been there and done that." He held up his own. "You see those scars?"

Jack looked closely. "Yeah but what…" His voice trailed off and his eyes widened. "You?"

"Me."

"Why?"

"A lot of reasons. I was hurt as a lot when I was younger." Jeff gave Jack a serious look. "Has anyone hurt you?"

"What? No, of course they haven't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes I'm sure. I'm just…" Jack shook his head. "I'm just really depressed. And no matter what I do, it won't go away."

Jeff sighed. This was bad. This was really bad. "I'm going to get you a psychiatrist and we're going to get you on some anti-depressants. We've got to get this stopped before it gets too far."

Jack glared at him. "You want me to see a shrink? I'm not crazy Daddy!"

"I didn't say you were. But I'm not going to stand by and watch you get worse." Jeff looked Jack in the eyes. "I can't you lose you Jack. I don't want to lose you and I don't want to see you suffer. Let me help you, okay?"

Jack sighed and finally nodded reluctantly. "Okay.


	8. Chapter 8

Jack regretted agreeing to see a psychiatrist. He was now scheduled to see the one the very next day, and he didn't think he would be able to handle it. He was terrified as being seen as crazy or being told he was faking it to get attention because all of it was on Maggie now. There was no explanation of why this fear had suddenly gripped him. All he knew was that it kept him up for all of the previous night and it was so bad that it hurt just to breathe. He felt like his chest was closing in on him and he felt like he was going to suffocate and die.

Aaron, Jenny and Gary were watching a movie with Sid. Katie Lea was at her house watching Caleb and Rachel. She was going to bring them when Matt picked up pizza for everyone. Jeff and Randy were back at the hospital with Maggie. She had two more rounds of chemo to go through before she could come home. Jack knew he should call his parents to tell them the way he was feeling, but every time he even tried to pick up the phone, he had to hang it up again right away. He felt trapped inside his own body and he was afraid to cry out for help. _They're going to lock you up_, a voice inside his head told him. _They're going to think you're crazy and they're going to lock you up forever and ever and ever._

"Stop it," he said out loud. He put his hands over his ears in an effort to block the voice out. He didn't understand what was happening to him. It was like now that he was going to get the help he needed, he was becoming even worse than he was before. This was getting out of control. He started to go downstairs to try to talk to Sid, Jenny or Aaron. But as soon as he got within ten feet of the living room, he about had an anxiety attack. Trying to walk into his own living room actually terrified because there were people in there. _What's happening to me? Oh God, I've gone crazy, I'm trapped and I can't get out…_

Not knowing what else to do, Jack went back into his room and grabbed a pair of scissors and his lighter before retreating to the bathroom. He didn't feel like he was in control of himself anymore. Whatever sickness had taken him over was in the driver's seat now. With shaky hands, he took the scissors and used them to make three deep cuts on his face. It hurt like hell and he didn't want to be doing it, but he didn't know how to stop himself at this point. Feeling sick to his stomach, he used his lighter to heat up the scissors until he was sure the blades had to be scorching hot. Then he took them and pressed them up against his cuts, burning them and making himself cry out in pain.

There was a knock on the door. "Jack?" Jenny called out. "What are you doing in there Jack? I heard you yelling."

Jack forced himself to take several deep breaths. His anxiety was reaching levels he had never experienced before. "Help," he said weakly. He forced himself to take the scissors away from his face. "Jenny I need help."

Jenny opened the door. "Oh my God!" she yelled when she saw what Jack had done to himself. She quickly grabbed the scissors out of his hands and threw them out of the room. "Aaron! Aaron help!"

Aaron came running up the stairs and into the bathroom a moment later. "What the hell are you--what the hell? Jack, what did you--"

"Call Randy and Jeff!" she barked at her twin. "Now!"

He nodded and took out his cell phone. She turned around and started rubbing Jack's back. "Jack? Talk to me honey."

Jack used both hands to brace himself against the sink. "I can't breathe," he complained. He couldn't even feel the pain in his face anymore at this point. Now that everyone had found him, the anxiety attack was getting worse than ever. "It feels like I can't breathe."

Jenny bit her lip. She looked like she didn't know what to do. "Well here, let me--"

Jack didn't let her do anything though. It was too much. It was all too much. He pushed her and Aaron to the side and ran out of the bathroom. He barely avoided knocking Sid down as he was coming down the stairs and he nearly tripped and fell as he ran out the front door. He didn't know where he was going, but it didn't really matter to him. He just had to go far away, so he couldn't be found and he could actually breathe again. _This has to stop, I have to make it stop_, he thought to himself. _I'm going to die if I keep going on like this._

XXXXXXXXX

"Aaron what is going on over there?" Randy asked. His nephew had called him and had said that Jack needed their help. But before too many details could be told, a whole bunch of yelling and chasing sounds had started.

Aaron took a deep breath. "Jack cut up and burned part of his face and now he just ran out the front door."

"What?" Randy yelled in disbelief.

"Jack!" Aaron yelled. "Jack where are you? Shit!" He took a deep breath. "We fucking lost him. You and Jeff need to fucking come and help us. Jack has fallen apart and he hasn't even been to the doctor yet."

"Okay, we're coming," Randy said. "We're coming to find him." He hung up the phone and looked at Jeff. "Jack mutilated his face and then ran off. Aaron and Jenny have no idea where he ran off to."

Jeff's jaw dropped in horror. "What?"

Randy shook his head. They didn't have time for him to repeat himself. He looked at Maggie, who was staring up at him. "Honey we need to--"

"Go," she said. "Go find Jack Dad." She looked over at Jeff. "You too Daddy. Jack needs help. He's sick too."

Randy kissed her on the head and pulled Jeff to his feet. "We'll call Matt and have him come stay with you," he promised. He pulled Jeff out of the room and they started heading towards the exit.

"What the hell are we going to do Randy?" Jeff asked. "He was seeing the psychiatrist tomorrow. Hell, we just filled a small prescription of anti-depressants so he would feel a little better."

"Well either he didn't take them, or they just made it worse," Randy replied. He had heard that sometimes could happen with teenagers. "But we can't worry about that at the moment. We just need to find him before it's too late."


	9. Chapter 9

Jeff wasn't sure at what point it started to rain. He honestly could not remember whether it started when they had been driving or when they began searching all through the woods. The only reason he even remotely cared was because it was a cold rain, and he knew Jack was out there somewhere in it too. Poor little Jack, who was falling apart despite their best efforts to save him. Poor little Jack, who seemed to have been hit by the semi-truck that was manic depression. "Jack!" he yelled. He looked around desperately. Randy and Matt were out there looking too. Katie was watching Sid. Gil was now with Maggie.

Maggie. Her illness had distracted them from Jack. Not that he blamed her of course. It wasn't her fault that she had gotten sick. He did blame the cancer though. He blamed the cancer and the depression that had hijacked Jack and was driving him to the point of self-mutilation. Jeff understood that feeling perfectly. He had mutilated himself in the past, and he didn't mean by just cutting his wrists. There were other self-inflicted scars on his body, but they mixed in well with the scars Christian used to give him, so nobody knew the difference. Randy and Matt didn't even know the difference. They had seen some of them, but whenever they had asked, he had just blamed Christian. He hadn't told them that he had tried to scar himself up so Russ wouldn't find him so appealing anymore. He had hoped that if he was freaky and scarred, his uncle wouldn't want him anymore. It hadn't worked of course, and now he didn't even want to dwell on why he had done it for too long. He just wanted to find Jack.

"Jack!" he yelled again. "Jack where are you?" He was near tears at this point. Either Jack wouldn't or couldn't answer him. "Jack!"

"Jeff!" Randy yelled. "I've got him! I found him!"

Jeff quickly ran to the sound of his husband's voice, nearly running into Matt on the way. Randy was coming towards them too, and he was cradling Jack in his arms. Jack was shivering and shaking like a leaf, and the burns and cuts on his face looked so angry and sore, but at least he was alive.

"Oh God Jack," Jeff said. He hugged his son as best as he could while Randy was still moving towards the car. "Jack talk to me honey. Please just say something."

Jack shook his head. His eyes were shut tightly and he was possibly crying. It was hard to tell because the rain was getting in all of their faces, so they didn't know what was water and what was tears.

They got him into the car and then Randy started heading back towards the hospital. Jeff sat in the back with Jack, holding him tightly. "It's going to be okay Jack," Jeff whispered, stroking his son's hair and rubbing his back like Randy used to do when he had nightmares. "You're going to be okay. We're going to get you the help you need. You just need to stay strong for us."

Jack just buried his face into Jeff's chest. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you like me?"

"What?"

"When you cut yourself? Were you like me? Were you sick in the head for no reason?"

Jeff sighed and looked up at Matt and Randy. They were looking back at him, clearly trying to tell him this was probably not the time to go into the subject. "No," he admitted. "I had a reason, but that's not important anymore."

Jack was silent for a minute. "I want to know anyway. Tell me why Daddy."

"Jack, I don't see how—"

"Just tell me!"

Jeff flinched, startled by Jack's sudden loss of temper. He took a deep breath, knowing that he probably shouldn't be getting into this at the moment, but not seeing another option. "I cut myself because my uncle used to sexually abuse me."

Jack took Jeff's hand and traced his fingers over the old scars on his wrists. He looked troubled by this news. "You remember Zach?"

"The boyfriend who you said hit you?"

"Yeah, that's the one. He said something about that once. I thought he was just being weird and creepy so I didn't believe him, but he said his biological father told him that you used to be abused."

Now Jeff was confused. "His biological father?"

"Yeah. I think the creep is getting out of jail soon. He's got a really weird name…I think the idiot actually calls himself Raven or something like that."

Randy nearly wrecked the car. "Raven is getting out of jail?"

Jack looked startled. "I guess so…Dad what's wrong? Why do you look scared?"

Jeff and Randy exchanged looks. If Raven really was getting out, Jack needed to be warned. Jeff sighed and decided he was going to have to be the one to say it. "Jack, there are a few things you need to know about Raven…"


	10. Chapter 10

Jack traced his fingers over the bandage on his face. He was at the hospital now, along with his parents, Maggie and Sid. He knew that the doctors wanted his dads to have him committed into their psychiatric ward, but they had said no. It all had to do with Raven possibly getting loose. If he really did get out, they wanted him and his two siblings with them at all times, especially since he had kidnapped Jack himself before.

Jack shuddered at the thought. He had been kidnapped when he had been only a year old, and nobody had a damn word about it until now. Raven and some other psycho named Christian had run Randy and Jeff off the road and could have killed all of them. Raven had taken Jack that night, and Christian had taken Randy and Jeff. Now Jack had asked _why_ Christian had wanted them, but he hadn't really gotten an answer to that question. All they had said was that they had had issues with Christian before that night, and Christian had wanted to hurt them for getting him put in jail for a few years.

"Sid please sit down," Jeff said to the younger son, who was trying to do flips all around the room. "You're going to bug the other patients."

"I can't sit down Daddy!" Sid exclaimed. He started rolling around on the floor. "There are ants in my pants! Fire ants! I hate fire ants! It fucking burns dude!"

"Hey!" Randy snapped. "Watch your fucking language!"

Maggie giggled. "I don't think that was any better Dad."

"No, I don't think so either."

Jeff gave Sid a very serious look. "Did you take your meds tonight?"

"Nope!" Sid said happily. He stopped rolling on the ground and hopped to his feet. "There was no time to. We had to save Jack." He started making airplane sound effects. "Super Sid to the rescue!"

Jack sighed and shook his head. And here he was thinking he had issues. "Quit being an idiot Sid. We have a serious problem on our hands."

Sid stopped running and sighed. "What, you mean the guy who thinks he's a birdie? I'll just throw rock at his big dumb head."

Randy cocked his eyebrow. "You don't throw rocks at real birdies, do you?"

"Noooo," Sid said in a long drawn out voice.

Jack rolled his eyes. That probably meant Sid had in fact done that. "Daddy, do you think Raven really will come after us again?"

Jeff chewed on his lower lip. "I think he probably will if he gets out. He's not the type to forgive or forget anything. Although he might go after Dreamer and Sandman first for humiliating him before he was carted off to jail."

"That might be the only bright side to all of this, because then at least we might get some warning that he got out."

"Well why don't I just call Zach and ask him if Raven is--"

"Yeah, how about no," Randy interrupted. "The last thing you need to do is get in contact with him. If Raven gets out and thinks he can use his son to get to you…" His voice trailed off and he just shook his head. "No, I'd rather try to call the jail itself and see if we can do anything to stop him from getting out."

"And what if we can't?" Jack asked. As bad as this situation appeared to be, it at least gave him something else but his own depression to focus on. "What are we going to do then?"

Jeff and Randy both exchanged looks. "We don't know," Jeff admitted. "I think we're just going to have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Raven hummed under his breath as he just stared at the cold, concrete wall. The cell he was trapped in had been his home and his hell for many, many years now. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten what the real world was like. He wondered if there was anyone out there who missed him. Probably not, seeing as he had been such a dick before. Maybe Stevie did, although he hadn't visited in several years. It seemed like his number one flunky was finally breaking the chains that bound him to him. It almost made Raven kind of sad.

But things were starting to look up. Raven had served almost his full sentence and he had been on his best behavior for God knows how long now. They were talking about letting him out on parole. His parole would have to be served in the Bowery, where his hellish childhood had taken place. And he would agree to do it--just so he could get out and get do what he really wanted. No parole officer was going to stop him from doing what needed to be done.

Jeff and Randy needed to be paid a visit…and it was time to finish this once and for all.


	11. Chapter 11

The day Maggie was released from the hospital was the day Jack started his therapy sessions. After much debate, it was decided that Randy and Sid would stay with Maggie while Jeff waited in the psychiatrist's waiting room for Jack to get done. Jeff had tried to talk to Jack about how he felt about going to therapy, but his oldest son had just taken his pills and shrugged him off. That had not made him feel any better, and he found himself chewing his fingernails down as low as they could get during the whole time he had to wait for Jack to get done.

When Jack finally did come out of the psychiatrist's office, he looked like he felt a little better. But he still wouldn't really say much to Jeff, which worried the man immensely. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked as they got into the car.

Jack shook his head.

"Then what's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?"

"I don't know," Jack confessed. "Just haven't felt like it."

Jeff sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Did you talk to Dr. Brown?"

"Yeah."

"How did that go?"

"She made me feel like less of a freak."

"How did she do that?"

"She made me realize that depression can hit just about anyone. People don't need deep dark reasons to feel like shit." Jack began rubbing the scars on his arm. "At least I can hide these those. I can't hide the ones on my face."

Jeff glanced at the scars and burns that Jack had inflicted on himself. "They're healing nicely though," he tried to assure the boy. "Eventually you'll barely be able to notice them."

Jack snorted. "Yeah right."

Jeff sighed and started the car up. "I still feel like you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad damn it! I'm just frustrated."

"About what?"

"About my whole fucking life! Maggie's sick when she doesn't deserve to be, Sid's driving me insane without even meaning to, there's some psycho out there who wants to come out of us and you could have told me I've been kidnapped before."

Jeff, who had just about been ready to start actually driving, stopped in his tracks. "You were a baby Jack. You were too young to remember it and we just never thought to tell you."

"Well maybe you should have," Jack snapped. "I heard Matt and Katie talking last night."

"What were they talking about?"

"Everything. Apparently the thought of Raven escaping made them reflect on a whole bunch of shit that happened years ago."

"What shit Jack?"

Jack didn't say anything for a minute. "Some guy named Christian used to abuse you," he said without looking at Jeff. "And his half brother Adam was obsessed with Dad. And the two of them and Russ raped you in a bathroom. Adam raped Dad when he tried to hunt them down. Russ went to jail and then Christian and Adam got into the house. You killed Adam and Dad Christian out and got him put in jail. Then Adam's half brother X became obsessed with you the same time Christian's friend Tomko was coming after you. X poisoned Dad, killed Tomko and then took you to his lair and tortured and raped you."

"Jack please stop," Jeff pleaded. He was going to kill Matt and Katie for opening their big mouths while Jack happened to be around. He didn't even care if they hadn't known he had been listening.

"But I haven't gotten to the best part!" Jack insisted. "The best part is, Dad started this whole Raven shit when he tried to find you. He struck a deal with a psycho and got you back, but then look what happened! Christian was broken out of jail, we all got kidnapped and you all fucked up by not killing Raven right along with Christian." He sighed. "Daddy, I love you and Dad to pieces, but I'm not forgiving either of you if someone gets kidnapped because nobody had the sense to take out Raven thirteen fucking years ago."

Jeff just sat there and tried to absorb all the things his son had just said to him. He realized that Jack had a very good point. They had been dumb to think that a place like prison would hold Raven forever. "Randy and I are not going to let anything happen you or anyone else, okay?" he finally said. "We're not going to let anyone hurt you kids, okay?"

Jack snorted. "Well good luck with that one. You and Dad could barely save each other until it was nearly too late. That luck has to run out eventually Daddy."

Jeff had a bad feeling that Jack could be right…especially since a black raven chose to land on the hood of the car at that moment. This was definitely not a good omen. In fact, it was as bad as an omen could possibly get.


	12. Chapter 12

Randy looked at Jeff with concern. His husband had been acting very strangely ever since he had picked Jack up from therapy. He had tried to hide it since Maggie was home and they were having a party for her, but Randy knew something was wrong. He always knew when Jeff was upset.

It wasn't until the younger kids were all off playing and the older kids were all doing their own thing that Randy got a real chance to talk to Jeff. He pulled his older husband upstairs into their bedroom so they could have some privacy. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern. "What's wrong? You've been looking upset for hours now."

Jeff sighed. "It's Jack."

"What? I thought you guys said therapy went well."

"It did."

"Then what's wrong?"

"He overheard Katie and Matt talking about the shit that's happened to us over the years."

"How much does he know?"

"Pretty much everything."

Randy sighed and sank down on to the bed. This was not good. This was not good at all. He and Jeff had never wanted the kids to find out about all those old skeletons in the closet. The memories were painful and they never wanted the kids to feel like there would be people constantly trying to destroy them too. _Of course if Raven does get out of jail, then they will have someone after them, so that plan of ours went all to hell._ "How did he react?"

"He's pissed because we didn't kill Raven," Jeff said. He sat down next to Raven. "And he's right. We should have ended this permanently while we had the chance. Now he's possibly going to get out and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Don't say that. We can try to fight it."

"How? He's been in jail for thirteen years. I tried calling the jail to find out what was going on. They said there's not a blemish on his prison record and they say he's rehabilitated. He's tricking them Randy! He's making them think that he's changed and it's working! He's going to get out and he's going to come after us and I don't know what--"

Randy cut him off with a kiss. He couldn't listen to Jeff freak out right now, mainly because he felt as helpless as Jeff did. He knew just how dangerous Raven was. The bastard had gotten one of their kids before, and that made him extremely afraid that it could happen again. And he didn't know if he could go through that again. It had felt like he was going to die the first time around, and that was with the knowledge that Raven was only going to turn Jack into his disciple. Now that the man had been sitting in a jail cell for over a decade, there was no telling what sick and twisted things he was planning to do now.

Jeff laid all the way back and pulled Randy on top of him. Their kisses were becoming even more frenzied now. They knew this was probably not the best time to be doing this, but they both needed an escape from their worries, even if they knew it wouldn't last long. "The door," Jeff managed to gasp out between kisses. "Randy lock the door."

Randy jumped to his feet and practically sprinted to the door. He locked it tightly, now relived that nobody could walk in. He stripped his shirt and jeans off quickly as he headed back to the bed. Jeff was doing the same thing. Their lips met again hungrily, and Randy could feel Jeff clawing at his back desperately. "Damn it, I told you to clip your nails," Randy muttered as he slid into Jeff.

Jeff smirked. "Whoops, I forgot."

Randy rolled his eyes and thrusted particularly hard just to teach his husband a little lesson. Of course that just made Jeff moan like a slut, which made them both hope that nobody had ventured upstairs to find them. "Shit baby, you're forgetting the third part of our motto on quickies: fast, quick and _quiet_."

Jeff whined and moaned desperately. "Randy…oh shit I'm cumming."

Randy groaned and slammed into Jeff one final time, spilling his seed deep inside of his husband. He panted for breath and buried his face in Jeff's shoulder. His troubles were forgotten…for the time being anyway.

XXXXXXXX

Raven stayed as still as he could and did his best to look the part of a reformed man. His parole meeting had gone as well as he could make it go; now he just had to hope that his acting skills hadn't shrunk with his lack of freedom. He knew he had a lot of people fooled, but the question was, did he have them fooled enough?

Time seemed to past by slowly just to fuck with him. He was beginning to get antsy by the time the people in charge of the meeting came back. He sat straight up and looked them all in the eye. They all seemed so emotionless that it was hard to get a good read on them.

The man in charge (Raven forgot his name) stood up. "Mr. Levy, we've discussed the matter and we've come to an agreement. Your parole has been granted with the terms that--"

Raven only pretended to listen to the terms of his parole. What he was really doing though was thinking of his next move. Step one of his plan was complete. He was getting the hell out of jail. Now he just had to find a way to get to North Carolina and get to Jeff and Randy before he was out of time.

Once upon a time, he had been one of the most notorious partiers in the business. At the time, he thought he was invincible. He thought he could do anything. But now he was feeling the effects of everything he had done to himself for years on end. He knew that deep down, his heart was going to give out on him eventually. And if he was going to die, he was going to make sure he went out with a bang.


	13. Chapter 13

Jeff woke up the next morning to the sound of the phone ringing. He groaned and picked it up with his eyes still closed. "Hello?" he said sleepily.

"He's out. The fucking bastards let him out." It was Tommy on the other line.

"Who?" Jeff's mind was still to muddled from being sleepy.

"Raven! Who the hell do you think I'm talking about?"

That made Jeff sit straight up. All thoughts of sleep were gone from his mind now. "What?" he yelled, his voice immediately betraying how badly he was panicking. "Are you serious?"

"I'm as serious as a heart attack," Tommy confirmed. "He was supposed to be serving his parole back in the Bowery, but he's already disappeared."

_Fuck fuck fuck, this is bad, this is really bad_, Jeff thought to himself as he shook Randy's shoulder until his younger husband woke up. "Raven's out and he's disappeared," he whispered. "Go get the kids and bring them in here."

"Oh fucking hell," Randy groaned as he rolled out of bed. He sounded pissed off, which Jeff just knew was his defense mechanism to cover up just how scared he really was.

Jeff watched Randy leave the room and then sighed helplessly. "What are we going to do Tommy?" he asked. "He's going to come after us no matter what we do."

"I know," Tommy said. "And more likely than not, he's going to find a way to get you. Fuck, maybe you should find a new place to stay. He's got to at least know that you guys live in Cameron. I would think that would be the first place he would go to look for you."

Well fuck, that probably meant Matt, Katie and their old family would probably have to move too for their own safety. That made for a total of twelve people that needed a new place to stay, and that wasn't even counting the dogs. Jeff tried to think of somewhere they could go that would be safe and big enough for all of them.

Tommy decided to help out a little. "Hey doesn't Mark own a couple of different ranches near his place? He'll probably let you stay there until we figure out what to do next."

If Tommy had been there in person, Jeff might have hugged and kissed him right then and there. But since he wasn't, Jeff settled for hugging the nearest pillow instead. "That's brilliant Dreamer! I'll call him and ask him if we can come down right now. You call either my cell phone or Randy's if you hear anything new about Raven, okay?"

"You two will be the first people I call," Tommy assured him. "Sandman also knows to call you guys too. He's on the lookout just as much as I am."

Jeff thanked Tommy again and then hung up so he could immediately call Mark afterwards. He tapped his foot impatiently until Mark finally answered the phone. "Poppa Mark, we need your help!"

Mark groaned. "God I hope so because it's only eight in the morning here Jeff."

"Oh, sorry Poppa Mark. But Raven's out of jail and we all need a place to hide. Can we come hide in one of those nice little ranches you own?" Jeff pouted his lip out for a second before remembering that Mark wouldn't be able to see it.

"Come on Jeff, we've known each other how long now? Of course you can hide in one of my places. Jesus, I'm almost offended that you felt the need to ask that."

"Well stop it, because things are falling apart over here! I'm freaking the hell out right now! I'm ready to start running around the room like a chicken who just got his head cut off!"

Mark sighed. "Jeff, just stop a second and take a deep breath. Freaking out is not going to solve a damn thing. You need to stay calm for the kids."

Jeff knew Mark was right. He had to at least pretend to be somewhat calm about all this. "Okay, I'll try."

"Good. Call me when you know what flight you're going to be on so I know when to get you from the airport."

"You might want to bring more than one car. I want Matt and Katie's brood to come with us."

"Oh lovely. My ranches are going to become a zoo."

"You know you love us though."

"Yeah yeah yeah…"

Jeff hung up the phone as Randy came into the room. "The kids are packing their things," Randy said. "We need to get somewhere safe like right now."

"We're going to Mark's," Jeff said. He handed Randy the phone. "Call Matt and tell him to get everyone at his place ready to go too. They won't be safe here just because we're leaving."

Randy sighed and started dialing Matt's number. "Fuck, this is so fucking wrong. We shouldn't have to be running from our damn home like this."

Jeff agreed whole heartedly with him, but there wasn't time to debate the situation at the moment. He grabbed the first suitcase he could find and started tossing his and Randy's stuff in it. He knew one of them was going to have to go help Sid and Maggie pack because they weren't really that good at it. _Damn it all to hell, why couldn't Raven die in prison like Russ did? This would have made everything that much simpler. _

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Jack I'm scared."

Jack sighed and looked at Maggie. He had packed up his clothes, his laptop, his meds, and PSP, and now he was trying to help Maggie get her stuff all together. "I know you are sis. But we're going to be okay. Dad and Daddy aren't going to let anything happen to us."

That satisfied Maggie enough to where she could go back to packing her toys. But Jack had lied; he didn't know if they were going to be okay. He didn't know if anyone was going to be able to stop Raven. He knew the history his parents had now. Things tended to get worse before they got better.

_So why let just them handle it?_ Jack asked himself. _Why not take matters into your own hands? Set the trap using yourself as bait. Get Aaron, Jenny, Sid and Gary to help you. Raven wanted to take you once and he'll try it again. Set him up for the fall and stop him before he hurts someone else._

Well that was a hell of an idea, but how was he going to do it? And could he get away from Jeff and Randy long enough even if he came up with a decent plan? _I guess I'll find out soon enough._


	14. Chapter 14

Randy did feel a little safer once they were all out at Mark's, but he knew that it was only the calm before the storm. When the shit came down, it was going to come down hard. Knowing this, he made all the kids go upstairs and play in the attic while he and Jeff discussed what needed to be done with Matt, Katie, Mark and Glenn.

"What we need to do is lure Raven into a trap," Glenn said. He was sitting on the couch next to Mark and he was eating a popsicle. "You remember how we got him trapped and put in jail for the first place? That's what we need to do."

Jeff frowned. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. I'm sure he hasn't forgotten how we got him that time and he'll have his guard up."

Randy nodded in agreement. Raven was an evil genius, and he wouldn't fall from the same trick that they pulled the last time they encountered him. In fact, he was probably expecting something like that, and he was already working out a way to get them instead. "I definitely think luring him into a trap could potentially backfire on us. I'm more for any plan that involves us running and hiding."

"Well we're doing that already," Katie pointed out. "And that's only going to work for us so long. Eventually he will find us and then we're screwed."

Randy glared at her. "Thank you Katie. You just always know what to say to make me feel better."

"I'm just trying to be realistic," Katie said defensively. "Glenn's got a valid point. We need to try to get Raven before he gets us."

"And what do we do if we somehow manage to get him?" Jeff asked. "We saw how well jail worked the first time."

Matt shook his head. "The jail held him for thirteen years. He only got out because he managed to act like a good boy. Now that he's seriously violated his parole, he's going to go back and he won't get out for a good long while."

"That's if the cops catch him," Randy pointed out. "And even if they catch him eventually, it doesn't mean he won't do some serious damage first."

Everyone was quiet for a minute, not sure what to say next. Then slowly but surely, all eyes turned to Mark, who just sighed. "Why is it always me?" he asked in a grumpy voice.

"Because you're the big, bad Poppa Mark," Jeff said. Randy just nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Mark said. "I'll try to think of a plan that will get rid of Raven, but you mother fuckers need to leave me alone while I do it. I can never concentrate when you all stare at me like a bunch of freaks."

That was an acceptable enough condition. Randy grabbed Jeff by the hand and followed the others out of the room. "Someone is going to have to make lunch soon," he said. "The kids are probably all hungry by now."

"I think we should just order a whole bunch of pizzas," Katie said. "I really don't feel like cooking today."

"I agree with my lovely wife here," Matt said. "But who's going to pay for all the pizzas this time?"

Randy and Jeff both exchanged looks before turning to Glenn. Randy put on his most charming smile, hoping it would help persuade the Big Red Machine into doing what they wanted him to do.

Glenn shook his head. "Oh you can all just go to hell. I am not their parents. It is not my job to feed the brats."

Jeff pouted his lips. "I thought you liked our kids."

"I do, but my wallet doesn't."

Randy sighed in defeat. "Well shit. I guess we're just going to have to split the bill again." He shook his head. "Why did we all decide to have multiple children? Did we think just because we had great jobs that it wouldn't suck to pay for shit?"

Jeff shrugged and kissed his cheek. "I don't know. Just quit bitching and order the damn food already. I'm hungry now."

XXXXXXXXXX

Unbeknownst to all the adults downstairs, Jack told the other kids everything that he knew. He knew very well their parents weren't going to do it, so he figured he should just do it. "That's why we've got to help them," he said, twirling a ruler around in his hand. "Raven's evil and he's coming. And I'm not getting kidnapped again."

Little Caleb looked up at Jenny. "What's kidnapped?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. She had explained the concept a dozen times to the five year old already, but the message didn't seem to be getting through to him. "Just play with your toy cars," she told him. "The big kids are going to talk now."

Maggie put her hands on her hips. "Oh no you aren't. I'm talking too! I know what kidnapping is and I don't like it! It's bad!"

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Aaron said. "But that does not answer the question of what the hell we're going to do about it. I mean, none of us have ever tried to stop a bad guy before and I don't think any of us will be any good at it."

"Speak for yourself," Sid said. He grabbed his BB gun (which he wasn't supposed to use in the house) and shot it at a Zac Efron poster he had put up. He managed to hit the picture of Efron right between the eyes and he cheered in celebration.

Jack stared at his little brother in amazement before grinning. "Just how well can you shoot that thing?"

"I can hit anything I want from any place," Sid replied. "Why?"

Jack just continued to grin. "We're going to need that gun, a net, some rope and duct tape. I've got a plan." He only formed it in about two seconds, but he thought it was a good one. It involved Sid shooting Raven with that BB gun and them taking advantage of his pain to capture him and keep themselves and their parents safe. And he knew exactly how he would get Raven within Sid's firing range. He would use bait.

He would use himself.


	15. Chapter 15

Raven watched from the shadows as Jeff, Randy and their little family entered the arena. He could see the apprehension in Jeff's eyes and it made him grin. Even though he was pretty much a constant victim, the guy wasn't a complete idiot. He had to know that trouble was going to find him and his family no matter how careful he was. Raven just wondered if Jeff had any idea just how close trouble really was at the moment.

Raven ducked out of sight just as Jack looked in his direction. The boy had grown into quite the young man and he almost wished the boy could have stayed his disciple. Just by looking at him, Raven could tell Jack had a mind that would be fun and easy to warp. _Maybe I'll still get my chance_, he thought to himself as he moved some of his hair out of his face. _Maybe I will get a chance to leave a legacy that will live on and make Jeff and Randy pay for helping to take away the last thirteen years of my life._

That thought was interrupted by a violent coughing fit that caused Raven to double over. He gasped for breath as he tried to stay quiet. The last thing he needed was for security to catch him and throw him out of the building before he could do anything he needed to do.

_Oh fuck, that's not good_, he thought to himself as he spit out a mouth full of blood. He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure before straightening back up. He felt like he was okay now, but he knew that the feeling wasn't going to last much longer. He was going to have to act fast if he was going to do what needed to be done. _Bird man is going to go out in a blaze of glory: quote the Raven, nevermore._

XXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff couldn't bring himself to relax at all as he tried to get ready for his match. Not only was he scared and nervous about the Raven situation, but he had a bad feeling that his kids were up to something. They kept talking to each other off in the corner, and whenever he asked them what they were talking about, they acted way too innocent for their own good. "They're up to something," he whispered to Randy.

Randy raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean they're up to something? Why would you say that?"

"Oh come on, can't you see it?" Jeff asked. "They're planning something they don't want us to know about."

"Honey, are you sure you're not being paranoid?"

Jeff gave Randy an offended look. "Paranoid? You think that's what I'm being?"

Randy sensed that he was entering dangerous territory at the moment and tried to back peddle a little bit. "Well I'm just saying that this whole situation has all of us on edge. Maybe you're seeing secrecy and deceit where there are only kids who are talking about harmless things."

"Are you seriously saying this to me right now?" Jeff asked. He could not believe that after all these years, Randy would try to question his judgment on this. "After everything we have been through together, you're going to stand there and act like I'm crazy?"

"I never said you were crazy!" Randy said defensively. "Never once did I use the word crazy!"

"You said I was paranoid!"

"I said you were BEING paranoid! Jesus Christ Jeff, don't put words in my mouth! That's not fair to do."

Jeff folded his arms over his chest. He knew that this argument had to end. They did not have time for this crap. "Fine. You know what? If you're so convinced that I'm paranoid, why don't _you_ ask the kids what they're talking about?"

Randy rolled his eyes. "Fine! I will!" He turned away from Jeff. "Kids--oh shit."

Jeff whirled around and quickly saw why Randy had said that. Maggie was the only one in the room with them. Jack and Sid were long gone. "Oh God," he said under his breath. "Maggie, where did your brothers go?"

Maggie stared at them with wide eyes. "What brothers?" she asked innocently.

Randy shook his head. "Honey, now is not the time to try to be cute with us. Where are Jack and Sid?"

"Uh…they're invisible."

Jeff looked over at the door, which wasn't shut all the way. "Oh fuck," he groaned. "They slipped out while we were arguing."

"Damn it," Randy said. "Jeff, stay here with Maggie." Before Jeff could protest that plan, Randy was already heading out the door. "BOYS! YOU GET BACK IN THIS LOCKER ROOM THIS INSTANT!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Sid winced as he heard Randy yelling. "Dad sounds mad," he told Jack.

Jack nodded. "I know he does. But we can't really help that right now, can we?"

Sid shrugged and put his BB gun over his shoulder. He figured they probably could by just going back and abandoning this entire plan, but he didn't say that out loud. He knew that wasn't what Jack wanted to hear. Not a lot of people ever accused him of being smart, but he knew more than he usually let on. He did understand that Jack was just trying to protect them all and he did understand that it probably wasn't the best idea in the world to try to catch Raven themselves. But he didn't think his parents were going to come up with a better plan, so he was just going to go along with this one.

Jenny and Aaron met up with them towards the exit of the arena. They were armed with a net and duct tape. "We better make this quick," Aaron said as they exited the building. "Dad is going to skin us alive once our diversion dies down and he realizes we're gone."

"Ours already knows we're gone," Jack said as they exited the building. "And Sid and I are so going to be dead when he catches up to us."

"So maybe that means we should just forget this idea and beg for forgiveness," Jenny suggested. She looked around nervously. "I mean come on Jack, this whole capturing Raven thing sounds like a crappy idea on paper, and now that we're out here trying to do this, I'm just realizing how much more idiotic it truly was."

"Well what a smart girl are. Too bad you grew a brain too late."

Sid gulped as a man stepped out of the shadows. His long, dark curly hair hung over his face and his leather jacket and baggy clothes covered up a way too thin body. His cold eyes pierced every one of them and Sid found himself hiding behind Jack. The man had to be Raven. He just had to be. "This was a bad idea," he muttered. "I don't want to do this anymore. Jack…"

Jack didn't a word. He just stared right into Raven's eyes.

Raven grinned. "Hello Jack. Long time no see."


	16. Chapter 16

Sid raised the BB gun defensively, even though his hands were shaking terribly. "You go away you fuckhead!" he exclaimed, not caring that he wasn't supposed to say that word. He figured that in this case, his language would be forgiven. "You leave all of us alone!"

Raven smirked. "It looks like you've got a spunky little brother there Jack. That's cute."

Jack glared at the older man. "What do you want Raven?"

Raven shrugged. "Oh I don't know Jack. I want a lot of things. Good meals, a nice bed to sleep in, your daddies' untimely death…"

"You stay away from my parents," Jack growled.

"Or you'll do what? Have your baby brother shoot me with his toy gun?" Raven leered at Sid. "Really kid, what good is that going to do?"

"Keep running your mouth and I'll show you exactly what it can do," Sid replied. The asshole could laugh all he wanted to, but he obviously didn't know that Sid was planning on shooting him in the nuts if he didn't go away. That would wipe that smug look off his face.

Raven shook his head. "I've been in jail for thirteen fucking years because Randy came to me for a favor and then backed out at the last second. I took one disciple away from me--"

"Yeah, he killed a lunatic that was stalking Jeff," Jack snapped. "And your idea of a fair trade was to take me away from my rightful parents for your own sick uses? Oh, and you accomplished taking me by releasing another loony from jail who would have killed my parents if not for Grandpa Mark." He glared daggers at Raven. "Now maybe in your little sick and twisted world, you doing all of that was fair. But here in the real world, it should have meant you would have fucking died in jail, you fucking crazy bastard."

"Jack stop," Jenny moaned quietly. She sounded absolutely scared to death.

Raven took a step forward and that was all Sid gave him a chance to do. He shot the BB gun as fast as he could, hitting Raven in the groin and stomach with several shots. Raven doubled over in pain, and Jack and Aaron quickly threw the net over him and tackled him to the ground. "The tape!" Aaron shouted. "Jenny, get the tape!"

Jenny tried to do just that, but her hands were shaking too much to get any free. Sid could see that Raven was fighting Aaron and Jack as hard as he could and he would eventually win because he was stronger. "Here, trade me," he said as he handed her the gun. "Hurry up!"

She gave him the duct tape, but just as he got near Raven, Raven violently hit both Aaron and Jack and lunged at him. He tried to back up but he was grabbed by the throat. _Oh fuck,_ he thought as he kicked at the net covered crazy man. _This is not good._

"Sid! No! Raven let him go!"

The next series of events went down very quickly. Just as Randy and Jeff arrived on the scene, Jenny bashed the butt end of the gun into Raven's head. Raven let go of Sid and shoved him to the ground. Sid fell on his ass, and that hurt an awful lot. Raven started to go after Jenny, but suddenly stopped to grab at his arm and chest. It took Sid a second to realize the guy was having a heart attack.

"Sid!" Jeff yelled as he dropped down to his knees and hugged his younger son tightly. "Oh my God oh my God oh my God…"

"Quit quoting Joey Styles and let me at him!" Sid snapped as he tried to break free from his dad's grip. "I'm going to kick that dying bastard in the face!"

Matt, Katie and some security people came running out as Randy stood over Raven. He looked like he wanted to kick the older man right in the head. But he just shook his head and glared at him. "You better hope to God you die right now Raven," he said quietly. "Because if you don't, I will come for you and I will kill you." With that being said, he grabbed Jack by the arm and motioned for Jeff to bring Sid into the arena. Sid sighed as he was unceremoniously picked up. They were going to get yelled at for putting themselves in harm's way, and it was going to suck major ass. _Lucky for me, I can tune all that out and not have them notice. Poor Jack is really going to get his ass handed him to him. Oh well, this was all his dumb idea._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"How could you be so damn stupid? Do you have any idea what could have happened if we hadn't gotten there and Raven didn't have that heart attack? Do you have any idea what could still happen if he doesn't die tonight? Jesus fucking Christ! Honestly, I've expected a little more fucking common sense out of all you! And you put Sid in danger by dragging him along with you! Just what do you have to say for yourselves?"

Jeff winced. He had never heard Randy yell at any of the kids like that before. They were back in the locker room and he was holding Maggie in his lap. Jack, Jenny, Aaron and Sid were getting yelled at (although Sid was getting it a little less than the teenagers--and he was obviously tuning it out, but Jeff decided not to tell Randy that) and even though Matt looked like he had been going to yell, it now looked like he was almost scared of Randy too.

Aaron took a deep breath. "Look, we were dumb, we know that. But we were just trying to help!"

"Well you shouldn't have done it!" Randy shouted. "We would have taken care of it!"

"Would that have been before or after someone got kidnapped or raped?" Jack asked. "I mean, that's when you usually get off your ass, isn't it?"

Jeff was shocked to his very core when Randy let his temper get the best of him and slapped Jack right across the face. "Randy!"

Randy instantly looked horrified by what he had done. "Jack--"

Jack didn't say a word. He just stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

The room was completely silent. Jeff had never felt so furious with Randy before in his life. Even though Jack's comments had been out of line, Randy shouldn't have hit him. "You sit down," Jeff growled as Randy tried to chase after Jack. "I'll talk to him."

Randy shook his head. "Jeff, I--"

"Just save it," Jeff snapped. He handed Maggie to Randy. "I don't want to hear it right now." With that, he turned on his heels and stormed out, hoping he would find his oldest son before he got too far. _Once again the shit has hit the fan. God, what I would give for a life without this much drama._


	17. Chapter 17

Jeff found Jack sitting all alone in the men's bathroom. The teenager was looking down at his knees, and he appeared to be pretty upset. "Jack?" Jeff said hesitantly. He didn't want his oldest son blowing up at him. "Can you talk to me honey?"

Jack sighed. "He fucking hit me."

"I know Randy did. I saw him. He shouldn't have done that, but when he gets scared, sometimes his temper gets away from him," Jeff tried to explain. He sat down next to Jack. "When we saw that Raven had Sid, we freaked out, and Randy was still freaking out back there. He didn't mean to do it."

Jack rolled his eyes. "I should have known you were going to defend him. You always take his side."

Jeff frowned. "Jack stop, it's not like that. I'm just--"

"Yeah, you're trying to tell me that Dad only did it because my stupid plan almost went wrong completely. I was very well aware of that fact before he slapped me" Jack leaned his head back against the wall. "I was just trying to make sure nothing happened to us. What were we supposed to do, wait until someone got kidnapped or worse before we did anything?"

"Jack, honey, I get why you did what you did," Jeff assured him. "It was stupid and reckless, but I get it. It's just that…well, you need to leave that kind of stuff up to me and Randy, okay? We couldn't bear it if anything happened to you."

Jack snorted. "In case you haven't noticed Dad, something already has happened to me. I've turned into a fucked up head case."

Jeff hugged his son tightly. "You are not a fucked up head case," he said vehemently. "You're angry, confused, and depressed, but you are not a fucked up head case. I used to be a fucked up head case, so I would be the one to know what one is."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Jack accused. "You know damn well I'm fucked up."

"You know, you can get down on yourself all you want, but to me, you're still as perfect as you were the day Randy and I brought you home." Jeff kissed Jack on the side of the head. "And there is not a thing you can say or do to convince me otherwise."

Jack glared at him. "You know, you're making it really hard for me to stay in this cranky mood of mine."

"Good," Jeff said. "I don't want you to stay that way. I want you to be happy again. I spent a lot of my time when I was younger being completely miserable and wishing I could die. I don't want you doing the same thing."

"Well to be fair, you had good reason to be miserable and hating life," Jack pointed out. He rested his head against Jeff's shoulder. "I don't think I could have gone through all that and came out of it in one piece."

"Honey, I wasn't in one piece for a long time," Jeff admitted. "It was Randy who put me back together again. I know this is going to sound corny as hell, but he was my savior. He's the reason I'm alive today." He tilted Jack's head up so his son was looking up at him. "Look, I know you're furious at him right now and I don't blame you. But you didn't see the look in his eyes after you stormed out. He was beating himself up over what he did to you."

Jack just grunted. He didn't seem completely willing to forgive and forget just yet. Jeff sighed and got back up to his feet. "Would you please just come back to the locker room with me?" he asked. "I would feel better if you did."

"But Raven's not here anymore Daddy," Jack protested. "I'm not in any danger here."

Jeff gave his oldest boy a pleading look. "Jack please, just come on. Could you humor me here just for a little bit?"

Jack groaned but got up. "I'm only doing this for you Daddy," he muttered. "I hope you appreciate that."

Jeff gave Jack a hug and a kiss. "I do. I really, really do."

The two of them left the bathroom and went back to Jeff and Randy's locker room. When they got back there, Sid handed Jack the BB gun. "Here, shoot Dad with this."

Jack stared back and forth between Sid and the gun. "Uh…why?"

"If you hurt him back, it will make him feel better," Maggie explained.

Jeff gave Randy an exasperated look. "Is that really the appropriate way to solve this problem?"

Randy shrugged. "Probably not, but he's a teenager. He'll reject my apology, so I figured that this would be the next best thing."

Jack looked at the gun and for a minute, it looked like he was going to do it. But then he sighed and put the weapon down. "Yeah, that will just make me feel guilty later," he muttered. "I might as well not do it."

Randy grinned a little bit and pulled Jack into a hug.

Jack groaned. "I never said I forgave you! Ugh! I hate it when you get mushy!"

Randy frowned. "Oh and why does Jeff get to hug you?"

"Well he's the mommy and--"

"What?" Jeff yelled at the top of his lungs. He could hardly believe what he just heard.

Randy studied Jeff carefully before nodding at Jack. "You know, you're right. He's always has been the motherly type with you kids and he looks--"

"Randall Keith Orton, if you finished that sentence, you will not get laid for a month!" Jeff shouted.

Sid and Maggie laughed and hugged Jeff's legs. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

Jeff sighed and smacked his forehead. He couldn't believe he was taking this from his own family. "You are all going to get it," he informed them. "I will make every single one of you pay. You can count on that."

Jack snorted. "Oh come on. What's the worst you can do?"

Jeff grinned evilly.

Randy groaned. "Oh God, we are all doomed."


	18. Chapter 18

"I don't think this looks right."

"How does it not look right?"

"It's black! Mac and cheese is not supposed to be black."

"Maybe it's Russian."

"You did not set out to make Russian mac and cheese. You set out to make regular mac and cheese, and you have failed miserably."

"Oh God, we're going to starve to death. I knew it! I knew it!"

"Daddy! Don't let Dad kill us with his food! Save us!"

Jeff chuckled. It was three days after Raven had come to the arena and ended up dying of a heart attack before he could really do long term damage. Those three days had been filled with Jeff not cooking any actual meals because he was still kind of pissed about the whole Mommy thing. He took enough crap about being girly from the others and he wouldn't stand for it within his own family. So that left Randy in charge of the kitchen, and he was failing miserably at cooking, to say the least.

Randy turned around and gave Jeff a desperate look. "Honey, you are man and I hear you roar. Now please, for the love of God, cook for us."

"Oh I'll cook for the kids. But what about you Randy? Shouldn't I punish you a little more?"

"No damn it. I'll be a good boy."

"Yeah," Sid said. "He'll suck your dick right here, right now just to prove it."

Jeff just about fainted as that came out of his ten year old's mouth. "Sid!"

Sid just looked at him innocently. "What? What did I say?"

"Where did you…what…why would you say that?" Randy finally yelled. "Where would you even learn to say something like that?"

"Well I walked in on Ted and Cody once and I made them explain it to me," Sid replied. "I mean, come on! What else was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to scream and pretend you never saw anything!" Jeff insisted. "You are too young to know what sex is."

Maggie raised her hand. "He already told me all about it. Does that mean I'm too young too?"

Jeff leaned back against the counter to support himself. Sid was going to be the death of him. "Sid Francis Orton-Hardy--"

"Uh oh," Sid said. He immediately took off running. He knew that when his full name was used, he was in trouble.

"I'll get him," Randy said. He handed Jeff the pan full of the ruined macaroni cheese and began chasing the hyperactive boy.

"Wait for me Dad!" Maggie yelled. "I want to watch you get him!" She took off after him, leaving Jeff and Jack all alone. Jeff dumped the water that was in the pan out into the sink. "Damn it, it's all scalded to the bottom," he grumbled. He showed it to Jack. "Look at that."

Jack wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I'm not eating that."

"I never said you had to." Jeff sighed and threw the pan away. "I'm not even going to try to scrape all of that crap off of there. We've got other pans we can use." He looked over at Jack, who was staring off into space. "You okay honey?"

Jack hesitated before answering. "You know what? I think I actually am." He looked down at his scarred wrists before looking back at Jeff. "I think for the first time in a long time, I actually feel normal."

Jeff smiled and gave Jack a hug. He could tell the teenager wasn't lying. He was just starting to get his old twinkle back into his eyes and he wasn't shunning everyone else's company like he had before. And with Maggie still winning her battle against her cancer, things were starting to go back to normal. "That's great. I'm really happy about that."

Randy came back panting and out of breath. "Sid climbed the tree in the back yard. One of you needs to get him down." He wouldn't do it himself because he had fallen out of a tree once chasing after Sid and had broken his arm in three places.

"I'll do it," Jack volunteered. "But I want permission to whack him with a stick for my troubles."

"Done," Randy agreed. "Go get him kid."

Jeff watched Jack run off with a grin on his face. "He's coming back," he said as he went into Randy's arms. "Our Jack is coming back."

"Yeah," Randy said. "And I couldn't be happier about that." He gave Jeff a kiss. "Now about dinner…"

Jeff grinned. "How about another baby?"

Randy turned a three shades paler. "How about I hurl myself off the roof instead? I love the kids, but three is enough."

"Relax. I was just joking. I just love seeing you twitch."

Randy raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? Well I love making you scream."

Jeff squealed as he was thrown over Randy's shoulder. He was tempted to point out that he still needed to make dinner, but he figured the kids wouldn't starve to death while they had a quickie. _Now this is the way things should stay_, he thought to himself. _No drama, no chaos--just peace._


End file.
